Let us join the psalmist in welcoming the new day with a portion of praise to our great God,
“Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His might expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds” (Psalm 150:1-2 – NASB)
Oh yes, “praise Him!” As we ponder who He is and what He has done “praise” should surely be our most desired reaction.
From the Revelation of Jesus Christ we read,
“. . . and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 – NASB)
Every day I pray for those who are afflicted, people I know of who are struggling with various physical problems, afflictions that are all too common while we are in this flesh.
A very young boy with cancer, a cancer that seems to grow worse at every report.
A young girl in need of a heart, having recently had a stroke at the age of nine.
A man that needs a kidney donor and has had this need for quite some time. He lives in a world of machine treatments for a failing system within his body.
A young man with a brain tumor, evidently it is cancerous.
A friend’s sister who has just been diagnosed with colon cancer,
A lady friend who has a form of cancer that doctors are trying to determine the best way to treat.
And not only do I pray for these individuals but I also pray for their loved ones, for the moms and dads, the husbands and wives, the brothers and the sisters, for their struggle is also very great. They are the ones who, though not actually taken with the health issue, they are alongside their loved one who is suffering and they bear the tremendous weight of the emotional struggle that is inevitable in these situations.
I’ve mourned, and I’ve cried, and I’ve felt the pain of losing a granddaughter to heart issues, of losing a friend to leukemia, of losing a dad to death. And as I grow older, as my time on this earth is extended by God, It may be some day that my brethren will be praying for me because I am also stricken. One thing is for sure, if Jesus tarries, we all will experience “death” some way, some how, some time.
As I was driving to church on Sunday morning my thoughts regarding all of these things were jarred by the words of an old hymn I was listening to. Wonderful words flow from a portion of this great hymn, wonderful words of hope and encouragement in the midst of life’s storms,
“There is coming a day . . . . on that happy golden shore,
There’ll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be , with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.”
Oh do not those words speak so well to our Scripture text? Are they not words of hope, great hope? If believed on they are great words of comfort in the midst of any trials and any tribulations. These words kept going through my mind as we prayed in our fellowship group Sunday morning, prayers that were being lifted up to God regarding those who are afflicted.
Yes brethren, rejoice, for “there is coming day” when we will no longer deal with “sorrow. . . no more burdens to bear” because a loved one is suffering. There will be “no more sickness,” no more cancer or heart disease. There will be “no . . . more . . . pain,” for “He shall wipe away” all these things. Oh blessed be His name forever and forever!
Have a good day brethren . . . and as you pray for those who are afflicted, pray that the eyes of their heart might be enlightened to grasp the great truths of God’s Word, that there is coming a day, a glorious day, when all suffering shall cease to be.
